His thoughts flew from feeling to feeling in a great rainbow of colors, unfortunately someone had stole all the bright colors associated with joyous time, there were only grays and blacks, many shades of gray and black.
He really wanted to weep with sorrow, with the hope that all of it just disappear ,he had a great desire to cry as a woman for what he could not protect as a man but if he cried all the people who hated him would be happy . Fausto just did not want to give them that joy. He knew they were not there to see it but he still negated that pleasure to them .
when he loved , someone else struggled in their happiness . It did not last long for him . He was no able to protect his parents, nor tried to find the bodies to give them a properly burial , Fausto was just a child but it was not an excuse.

Life returned to his eyes when some wise words were uttered from koga ¨Katrina, do you know who hurt you?" Good, that was the best thing to do, the damage was done but someone had to pay. Eye for an eye. That was not going to help Katrina to sleep at night, maybe yes, but at least it would help it to not happen to more innocent people. It seemed that revenge once again would turn his motivation again, Revenge would take him by the hand as it had done before, he would stand even with a deep wound near the heart and although if in it would expire his last breath he gonna achive his revenge , with all his pent-up anger, all his particular justice discharged in a single bite.
Two years before he could avenge his parents, which only helped him to torture every night ... but anyway he was tortured every night by the memory of their parents .
And now it occurred again, he could not even protect Katrina when she had needed him , the little singer could not think of anything else and repeated again and again that he had failed.

"Please hold my hands?" Her voice begged with so much emphasis that he could not resist.
First he thought it was just designed to comfort her, Fausto almost did not do it because he felt that was not worthy enough of that hand, not worthy of the little time of redeption she propossed . Anyway he did. He knelt beside her and took her hand and found much more than what he expected.

A park, Central Park probably , he was not sure. His concentration had focused on the man who led him [who led their] although there was all sorts of things more pleasant to look than this man, like the harmonious singing of birds, high canopy trees painted green ...
Suddenly the whole view changed rapidly with a sharp pain that penetrated her/his/their skin , it was a excruciating pain but he thought he really deserved it, the problem was that what he had felt was what Katrina felt and that was unforgivable. The ties also made it impossible to leave or do nothing but to wait for the cold metal that touched his skin , the coldness quickly let place to the feel of the warm blood as the tearing slided over his skin, only his warm blood warmed his cold body, everything seemed frozen in that reality completely darked and only a ray of light illuminated horrifying things. As the face of the man, if it was posible to call him a man . Rather that man should be a demon. "Do you know why you are here?" Did Katrina knew why she was there? He did not know why was there, he did not know why he was inside the illusion, and had no idea what had happened, perhaps it was some kind of abilittie from that man Katrina called Kaz ? or was Katrina's work doing the trick?
Suddenly the vision ended, it faded like it was the light at the end of a dark corridor and something sudenly covered it for him to go back to reality.

When he returned Katrina was shaking, her nails digged into his hand, he did not care. That pain was nothing compared to what she had felt, and the little time they had lived in her memories were nothing more than just a glance of all the horror and suffering that she had felt.

"That isss the sssame man, who did thisss." For Fausto surprise he was talking about his ausent arm and also about someone that hurts Ghost "And nearly killed ghossst." His voice spoke with great certainty and security, justice also nested on him . "He must be stopped." Perhaps Fausto could lay what was left of hope in the lizard men, together they could kill him if they could find that bastard.
Iron Mouth ate each word of anger that appeared in his mind , Katrina did not need to know his friend ,if she still considered him a friend, would put his life in danger to bring that man to the botton of hell .

Kat's words were spoken so softly, he thought he might have missed them if she hadn't had his full attention. That was not the Kat he knew and remembered, his heart dropped as he gently held her hand and made room for Koga's had when he placed his hand on hers. For a moment, to Kaz it didn't seem like Koga was holding Kat's hand and that Kaz was doing the same, but that he was holding both of their hands in his. He could easily have done it for sure, though this was different. He couldn't quite place it, and before he could put his thoughts about it in order, it fluttered out of his mind and was lost. Though he was now holding Koga's hand as well as Kat's, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze, to reassure her that he was there.

The room was quiet except for the breathing of those in it, at least for a few moments. Kaz began to hear birds and rustling leaves. Kaz glanced just a bit away from Kat's face and realized the room had changed. Kaz's eyes widened in surprise as the image and sounds wavered for a moment as he fought the images, sounds, and even the breeze across his skin. He knew it wasn't real, it couldn't be real. They were in Koga's room not outside, not on a bright sun-shiny day. He forced his mind to focus on his hands on his breathing. A pang of, fear? rose inside of him, his body tensed his mind focused. If someone was trying to pry into his mind, he'd do whatever he could to stop them. If they were good or just very determined, he wouldn't be much of a challenge, but he'd try.

The already dim (to his normal hearing) sounds seemed distorted, a bit like static, the colors of the image he was watching paled a bit, the breeze on his skin was nearly gone, the smell of the leaves, trees and wind were muddled. This was until he looked at Kat, Koga and the other boy. That was enough to break his concentration, he felt beads of sweat forming on his forehead, a slight headache had begun to creep to the back of his head. All of a sudden like a diffusion film being pulled away from a light, the full affect hit Kaz. The colors were vibrant, the sound clear, the smells crisp, even the breeze felt comforting. The whole thing had only taken a few seconds. He might have been able to keep it at by longer, or even forced it away, but it had been completely unexpected and he unprepared. That made him feel vulnerable and he really did not like that. If that had been an attack, he didn't want to think what might have happened to him, what was worse, what might have happened to Kat.

To Kaz, the illusion was too real, but not real enough at the same time. He was having a bit of 'double vision' so to speak. He saw the image around him, what he understood to be Kat's memories of the events, but he also saw Kat, Koga and the boy as if he were looking at, past, and through them all at once. He felt Koga's hand, the floor underneither him, the calm air in the room, as well as the breeze. He could hear their breathing, their heartbeats and also the sounds of the park as if he had two different stereos playing at the same time with similar songs, just slightly off from each other. It was disorienting to say the least, and a slight bit nauseous. Kaz fought it all down and tried to focus on what Kat was showing them, it helped the 'real world' fade out a bit more till he could barely 'sense' it.

Kaz settled into the illusion about the time Kat looked at the man with the boombox, it had seemed as if more time had passed while he was adjusting to the illusion than had actually passed. His eyes widened then narrowed as he eyed the man with obvious suspicion. That face seemed familiar. As he neared, Kaz saw the eyes then saw his face again and recognition burned into his brain. He had taken off with Isabel at KP. He hadn't been able to go after her then so the man had escaped. Kaz focused on every part of the man, soaking up everything he could as he etched him into his mind. Even if Kat had not said anything at first, Kaz would not have trusted the man after seeing his eyes that up close and personal. He wondered if Kat had seen it and ignored it, or had missed it completely. The intensity of the man's eyes was too intense to be trusted. Or, maybe Kaz's foreknowledge and feelings were coloring his thoughts.

Pain. Pain and a lot of it flared through his skull as the world around him went black. Not dark, but a black nothingness. No light, smell, sound, nor could he feel anything. A shiver ran down his spine. Seeing and experiencing this from someone else's point of view was new and gave him new thought into what it was like for those who did get knocked out. Cold cement or concrete pressed against his cheek, cold and unforgiving, body bound in place. The back of his head felt slightly damp as did his upper back, though mostly it felt bare and cold. He felt naked. Kaz felt as if Abyss had just clocked him in the gut when he realized the man had cut Kat's hair, mopped up the blood from the back of her head and cut her clothes off.

His hand felt burned though he knew it wasn't, he unconsciously flexed his hand at the feeling, just as he unconsciously tensed his back when he felt the cold blade press against his skin and the sharp precise pain the followed. The bastard had cut three lines into her delicate skin. He felt the blood well up and fall down his back. The bloody blade came so close to his eye he wanted to flinch away. The man's voice was calm, as if everything was fine and normal in the world. His rage flared up from his gut. He didn't know if it was fear and terror he felt from Kat or if he was feeling it for her. Kaz pushed the urge to shift down to a small ember simmering and smoldering in his gut.

The illusion ended suddenly as if a television's plug was pulled. It took a moment for Kaz to reorient himself, though he did it unconsciously. He hadn't realized it, but tear had welled up in his eyes, tears of pain, sadness, fury and terror, rolled down his cheeks slowly and silently. He was shocked, how could anyone do this to Kat, to any child for that matter. A lump had formed in his throat and he had to tell himself to swallow so he could inhale air to breathe. At the same time, with all the other emotions, he was happy, overjoyed even. Kat was still alive, she was safe now. That thought stabilized him, she was alive.

Kaz barely caught Koga's mouthed words, though he didn't catch them all, he got the idea and he agreed completely. It was the boy's spoken words that put the puzzle he hadn't seen onto the table and fit it all together. Koga's arm, Vega's pain and distress, Kat's ordeal, Isabel's abduction. This man...Kaz had killed people before, but he put them out of their misery and didn't let them suffer, and never a child, and never for no reason. He was a dead man walking as far as Kaz was concerned.

"Katrina," The cracking in his softly spoken voice barely noticeable, "I'm so sorry." All his anger and rage was shoved down inside of him, stored for a later time. All he wanted to do was take the girl into his arms and hold her and make sure she was safe. For now he settled for placing his free arm on her shoulder gently before he stood a bit, so he was just slightly above her and kissed her head.

Katrina looked up at Koga, the venom in his voice making her wide eyed. Fresh tears glistened at the edges of her grey orbs as he hissed the news that the same man who had hurt her had also maimed Koga and almost killed Ghost. Katrina hadn't realized that had happened. The little illusionist inhaled sharply at the news, her breath coming in a shudder. She didn't understand how someone could hurt people seemingly without any reason like that.

As she watched Koga speaking, she recognized something in his expression that she had never seen on his face before. His expression seemed to have hardened, as if he had resolved to do something.

>>>“He must be stopped.”

And Katrina recognized where she had seen that expression before. She shifted her wide eyed and worried gaze to Fausto's face. When they had first met they had a conversation about whether or not it was okay to kill murderers. Fausto had thought that it was okay, and later had committed a murder of his own to avenge his parents. He had worn that same expression on his face back then, and he wore it again now.

“No,” she whispered. Her eyes found Kaz's face as he leaned away from kissing her forehead. His expression was softer than the boys, since he was trying so hard to console her. But in his eyes, there was the same hardness. The same resolve.

“No!” She pushed away their hands, backed all the way up until her back was against the wall, and clutched the pillow to her chest tightly. “You can't.” She was shaking her head, blinking the moisture out of her eyes. “I don't want you to get hurt,” she took another shaky breath, unable to get enough air, “and I don't want...” There wasn't enough air in here.

“I don't want you to be murderers, too.” She was shaking again, terrified of what could happen to them and just as terrified of what this might make them do.

~~“No,”

~~“No!” “You can't.” “I don't want you to get hurt,” “and I don't want...”

~~“I don't want you to be murderers, too.”

Koga’s body pumped adrenaline through, him he had not expected to see his new ly discovered and utterly hated foe, so soon or so unprepared. He had been stuck there forced to watch the desecration of something so pure and kind. Gentle.

His lungs pumped out a rattle and hiss. His teeth stopped grinding the second he realized he was doing it. it was best that Katrina shook off his hand because it wanted to turn into a fist any how.

“I can’t?” shock and disdain whispered past his lips streaming strait from his heart, she was right to think he was seeing visions and murderous acts before his eyes.

“The only thing I can’t do isss let thisss go.”

His breath labored as his vocal cords struggled to work and not simply revert to primal growls.

“I will not. I can not. let him be.”

“You want him alive, Fine.” Koga turned away from the group “But he will not go unpunished.” A coma suited him just fine.

He turned around and went to his closet already preparing to leave and search for the man. It couldn’t even wait til he saw the healer that would give him the use of both hands.

Fausto was already a murderer, he became one shortly after meeting her. And she knew he was one and even accompanied him to the funeral of the corpse to pray for his immortal soul that would be judged by a real God, if real God existed. In this side of reality Iron Mouth judged him and his sentence was : guilty.
That last advice or request was for him,it obviously was not . But the others two fit him well . As also were directed toward Koga and Kaz who seemed to have the same murder desires as him .
Maybe this time it was not enough to end his life, perhaps this time that life must become a punishment for this bastard.

As expected, Koga had a promising future. His heart should beat as fast as his own and in his veins should not flow the blood that gave life to his body seconds before .In his veins like in Iron's veins circulated hatred and revenge. The young avenger listened carefully to every word coming out of that snake's tongue. He saw himself reflected in Koga, so filled of angry was the day he decided to kill the murderers of his parents, with an evil grin he tasted the revenge even at the time Luke told him where to go. But it was even more sweet when he chewed and teared the flesh of that devil even before his saliva could act on the meat,then head rolled, and at that moment he felt only the kiss of metal penetrating his flesh, the blood sprang from the wound, dangerously near his heart , where he carried a scar . Iron Mouth would be dead if he were alone at that time, but even when he did not know someone was helping him from the shadows ... If Luke had not followed him , Fausto would be dead.

The singer quickly crossed the room, it was not a great distance between them but it was enough to give him time to leave if he doubts about his actions. His feet moved quickly, dodging Kaz and Katrina,he talked aloud to Koga when he put a hand on his shoulder to stop him . ¨ Stop, you heard Katrina. She doesn't want her...¨ He doubted a few seconds and it hurt like hell not being sure of the relationship that now they both had with Katrina, and the word that should have been a warm word became a plaintive howl from his lips. ¨... her friends to be hurt.¨ Then his mouth approached Koga's ear as much as he could without touch themwith his lethal lips, what he said was better staying in secret. He spoke in a tone so low that feared even Koga to be not able to hear it .
¨You can not go alone, I ...¨ He wanted to say that he had already committed such an act of revenge but he did not say it 'cause it was not the time nor the place. ¨ You will die if you go alone and with that anger commanding you , is not that I don't care about her but you better chill down, then we will act when we have a plan. ¨ His words were so fast ... Did Koga listened and understood what he said?

Kaz wasn't ready for the sudden and intense reaction of Kat's. He stood next to the bed wide eyed in slight shock. She shook, visibly shook, her voice shuddered. He was glad the girl had a good heart. With what she had been put through, many people would want revenge, perhaps she did, though Kaz didn't think so, even still, she was concerned with him and the two boys' safety.

“I don't want you to be murderers, too.” Kaz couldn't look her at her, let alone look her in the eyes. The way Kat spoke, Kaz felt guilty just standing near her. Of course he was guilty of being a murderer, many times over. Kaz hid himself from the girl, hid his other self. He would do all he could to not expose her to that side of him. He wasn't delusional though, he was sure that sooner or later, she'd know what he really was. With a deep, slow breath, Kaz sat down on the edge of the bed.

He wasn't the only one who obviously seemed disturbed and surprised by Kat's words. While he agreed with Koga and his feelings, and what he wanted to do, he did not agree with the kid going after the emerald-eyed man. He wasn't going to stop him from speaking his mind though. So when the other boy went to speak to Koga, he gave him the same treatment. He let him speak his mind. What snagged Kaz's attention was how quietly and quickly the boy was speaking, trying to hide. Kaz's ears twitched very subtly and only once at that.

Kaz looked up at the two and stared in their direction, his expression going flat and serious. "It doesn't matter what 'plan' you think of, you will not go after him, neither of you." He stood up and looked down at the boys. "You should listen to your friend Koga. You're letting your anger control you. You will die," He swept and locked his gaze onto the other boy, "You both will, if you go after him. Think about this with your heads before you go making stupid rash decisions. I shouldn't have to tell you how and why it's a bad idea."

He looked at Kat and knelt down to look up at her. "Kat," He reached across the bed and placed a hand on her knee lightly. "Don't worry, I won't let that happen to them. I promise." Kaz had to wonder if Kat knew or had thought of what sharing her memories of the event might do to them or make them feel. He thought, and tried to believe it was completely innocent, and that it was just the easiest and most complete way to answer their questions.

Venom dripped from Koga's words like disdain, malevolence, and enmity turned liquid. There was so much anger in him that had built up so suddenly it was almost as if a thunderstorm had built up behind his eyes and all Katrina could see in their black depths was lightning, ready to strike anyone who came near.

This was a part of Koga that she hadn't seen before, and it scared her.

Fausto spoke in support of her words, but the whispers he spoke so only Koga could hear did not comfort her. Kaz could hear them, though, and his response gave away what had been said. Katrina just hugged the pillow tighter, squeezing her eyes closed and shaking her head, as if by retreating into herself she could make both herself and this whole situation disappear.

The tighter she curled into herself, the harder she shook. Not even Kazelf's words and the comforting hand on her knee stopped her shaking. If they were hurt it would be her fault. If they hurt or killed the green eyed man it would be her fault.

“I never should've... showed you,” she managed to gasp between shuddering breaths. “Don't do... something bad... because of me.”

~~¨ Stop, you heard Katrina. She doesn't want her...¨ ¨... her friends to be hurt.¨

Koga froze for a moment, fighting the slight urge to lash out at Fausto, it wasn’t his fault he was just trying to intervene, but if this was some crap to get points with her. he shuffled through his things and found his action bag. Half of it would be less useful with one hand., but it’d have to do.

~~¨You can not go alone, I ...¨ ¨ You will die if you go alone and with that anger commanding you , is not that I don't care about her but you better chill down, then we will act when we have a plan. ¨

He paused for a moment, thinking what Fausto had to say, had some merit. He shrugged the hand off of his shoulder, he really didn’t want to be told what to do right now, and Heel wasn’t going to cut it right now. Telling himto go blow some steam off in the danger room or to go work out, might have given him something to focus on, but No don’t, wait and think… wasn’t on his agenda right now.

He opened his mouth to say what he didn’t even know but already there was another voice agreeing with the one over his shoulder…to an extent. At this precise moment, the only language he spoke was vengeance, and somehow, no one else seemed fluent.

***"It doesn't matter what 'plan' you think of, you will not go after him, neither of you." "You should listen to your friend Koga. You're letting your anger control you. You will die," "You both will, if you go after him. Think about this with your heads before you go making stupid rash decisions. I shouldn't have to tell you how and why it's a bad idea."

And so he was dismissed a second time as fodder… he was dead meant plan or not this time…Perhaps Kaz hadn’t realized that he had added his little sword school to his repertoire of things he didn’t have enough time for but excelled in anyway. It was the same old thing, except with a sword in his hand. His eyes shot to the three weapons on the stand.

Who the heck was this guy coming in here and talking down to him? He hardly knew either of these guys and neither of them knew him well enough to know what he was or wasn’t capable of. Katrina, was the only one that knew he could take this guy…and she was crying.

***"Kat," He "Don't worry, I won't let that happen to them. I promise."

Heh, now he had enough time to ensure with out a doubt that he could stop him. Hope you don’t have anything else to do Mister Corydon.


<3<3“I never should've... showed you,” “Don't do... something bad... because of me.”

“Katrina!” he said with more force then he intended, hearing him self he took a deep breathe and started over. “ Katrina, if I did anything bad, it wouldn’t be becaussse of you, it’d be becausssse of him. You can’t possssibly think thisss guy doesssn’t need to be taken off the ssstreetsss. Those sssewersss were too good for him. I can count at leassst five people who have been near this psycho who I don’t even want him near. Nothing that happensss to him isss your fault. He is attacking people, hurting people. He threw me in a dumpssster and attacked you in a sssewer. The only reassson, the ONLY reassson we all aren’t at Ghossstsss funeral right now isss becaussse that unicorn put her insssidesss back where they belong and healed her.”

“How are we going to sssit by and let that crazy run around and do thisss crap to other people?”Koga looked at Katrina earnestly. “ Pleassse, Pleassse tell me you don’t want usss to leave him out there to make the world worssse?” he flopped down on the bed, his adrenaline rush finally subsiding. “ He isssn’t going to ssstop, unlessss he isss ssstopped.” He then looked at the other two males in the room and tried to relieve some of the tension with a weak joke. “And you two, quit telling me I am going to die, I’ll decide that, thanks.”

They all had to leave sometime. Until then he would do as they advised calm him self and think.

The harshness in Ryuichi's voice startled her right out of her tears and made her listen, really listen, to what he was saying. He was right; the green eyed man wasn't going to stop hurting people until someone stopped him. He had a track record already of hurting everyone with whom he came in contact. Just because Katrina didn't want her friends to be the ones that faced him, didn't mean that he wouldn't hurt keep hurting other people's friends and family members. At least if it was her friends who faced him they knew what were up against, and had a somewhat better chance to survive because of it.

Ryuichi was right, but it still didn't mean that she wanted them to go be the ones to stop him. She knew she was being selfish, but she couldn't help but feel like it should be someone else who took care of the problem. Like the police. Wasn't it their job to catch people like that? Though, they maybe weren't the ones that were the best equipped to handle some problems. Maybe a mutation was something that gave people the responsibility to do something where other people couldn't, like the X-men tried to do. Then again, maybe she had just read too many corny old comics about guys getting mutations from spider bites, of all things.

She took a deep breath and wiped the dampness off her face. She wasn't aware that she had done it with the edge of Koga's orange pillow case.

Katrina nodded as the lizard boy flopped back onto his own bed, sprawling between Katrina's wall hugging position and Kaz's bed edge perch. He was right, but it would take her courage to tell them that. She would prefer to never think about the incident again, but if someone didn't do something it would just keep happening again and again. She had made the first step by telling someone what had happened. Now she had to be brave enough to let people she knew could deal with the problem go and deal with it.

She took a deep breath, then spoke again, this time without choking on her words, “Send the X-men. It's their job to catch people like that. If you three go with vengeance in your hearts to torture him, then you are no better than he is.” She was trying her best to sound brave, but her voice was still shaking a little. “And, while the X-men are gone... Fausto, Ryuichi, could you two keep me safe here?”

Fausto always chewed through his problems so he did not know what to do, that time was stupid to try it and even if it was the the best solution he did not feel like doing it , no biting, no jumping or running, or even speak. Everything he could do seemed pointless because something interrupted him and ruined his plans as such a developed super hearing, he was beginning to hate that guy ... although he tried to control everything bad things kept happening to him and his loved ones . To try was worthless.
Lizard boy's comment deserved a malicious glare, perhaps a blow to show he could not decide and Iron could choice how much he could live but he was not even able to concentrate his hatred on a glare , Koga did not deserved such an act of rejection, seeing that both had the same goals.

To the invisibility that Katrina had granted him on rare occasions and that he had seen a few other , Fausto must added now a new power , seeing her gaze was worthy of a Gorgon even when her question was sincere and aimed to lift the spirits of both, or so it seemed, he could always be wrong ... Iron apparently always was wrong ...
What should he say? His blood petrified in his veins and arteries while his heart also transformed into a large gray stone, his heart was heavy in his thin chest. He did not want to hurt her again but he had already demonstrated that he was unworthy to protect her, if she was in danger again he would not be able to help and will fail again.
¨ Sorry, I could not. I failed once, i will fail again. ¨ Fausto looked at her while answering, with blackest eyes full of pain because it hurt a lot having to utter those words but he would had drowned if he did not say that , he could not help feeling sorry for said it just as she seemed to be regaining his encouragement.

Time seemed to be frozen , that night would last forever until the problem get resolved but it could last for so long and he was getting tired of standing there . Fausto sat on the floor near the door where he had stopped Koga. He did not want to look at any of the three, so he did what his former friend did so often ... What was the thing she found so interesting...? His feet were so boring ...

Kaz didn't have time to respond to Kat's words as Koga's voice topped the other sounds in the room. He said Kat's name so strongly he thought he might have disturbed some of the other children in their rooms. Though he made sure to listen to what the boy said next, Kaz also focused on the sounds outside of the room. Others were still awake, as expected, he could hear various activities coming from the rooms, but nothing that sounded as if they had been disturbed by the goings on in Koga's room.

He returned his near full attention to the room and processed what Koga is and had been saying. He was right of course. The man had to be stopped. But not by Koga or Fausto. Koga had spirit, and could probably, eventually, be a match for the man. But he had run off with Isabel, one of the strongest people he knew, perhaps not in abilities though he hadn't really seen what she could do as of late, except for the lovely bone wall, but her personality. Kaz couldn't think of any reason except being overwhelmed, that the man wouldn't have been completely pin-cushioned. Isabel and Koga have spirit, but that isn't always enough.

"Koga, maybe you have the skills, knowledge, and experience to do it, but you're letting emotions rule you and affect your judgment. You'd be easy to manipulate and push around, and defeat. Until you can control yourself and your emotions, you've defeated yourself before the fight begins."

Fausto, Kaz had very little to go on about him. He didn't know what he could do, or even what his personality was like, until now. The boy's abilities were still unknown to Kaz, but just listening and hearing what he said about himself. If he went up against...anyone, he'd be beaten, because he had already beaten himself.

"Fausto correct," Kaz said it as a half question as he looked at the boy, "There's a difference between knowing your limits and saying you can't. If you say you can't, in any situation, working, school, trying to attract someone's attention, before a fight; then you've already defeated yourself. As long as you're alive, there's a chance. Just learn from the past, and those around you, and improve yourself."

Kaz moved his hand to lightly rest on Kat's head. "He's right. Nothing about this is your fault. What we do, if we do something, it's because we care about you, and we don't want him to continue hurting others. Would you feel bad about calling the police if you knew someone was being assaulted?" He shook his head slightly. "As for the X-Men..I'll talk with Sam and see what we can do." Kaz made a show of looking for the clock. "But, it is getting late, I should make sure the others are getting to bed." He stood slowly and as if it was an after thought. "You three should get to bed soon-ish as well." It was clear by his tone that after he left the room, he was going to ignore what they did. He thought it only right. Kaz would have happily stayed and kept Kat company, but he knew he had interrupted something. He did give both Koga and Fausto a slight glare meant to say 'Behave'. He leaned down and placed another kiss on Kat's head before heading towards the door.

~~“Send the X-men. It's their job to catch people like that. If you three go with vengeance in your hearts to torture him, then you are no better than he is.” She was trying her best to sound brave, but her voice was still shaking a little. “And, while the X-men are gone... Fausto, Ryuichi, could you two keep me safe here?”

^^"Koga, maybe you have the skills, knowledge, and experience to do it, but you're letting emotions rule you and affect your judgment. You'd be easy to manipulate and push around, and defeat. Until you can control yourself and your emotions, you've defeated yourself before the fight begins."

It was easy to give a man a deadpan look when you had lizards eyes. They were cold in the first place and typically masked his feelings but he was sure that the rest of his face told him what he though about his assessment.

**¨ Sorry, I could not. I failed once, i will fail again. ¨

^^"Fausto correct," Kaz said it as a half question as he looked at the boy, "There's a difference between knowing your limits and saying you can't. If you say you can't, in any situation, working, school, trying to attract someone's attention, before a fight; then you've already defeated yourself. As long as you're alive, there's a chance. Just learn from the past, and those around you, and improve yourself.

Limits! Ha! He rallied against his instinct to fight against someone telling him he couldn’t do something. Particularly since he wasn’t sure if they were counting him out due to his arm. But, if they wanted him to train for awhile before that monstrosity was handled then so be it. He didn’t care for Im’s refusal, and so he wouldn’t allow it, he understood the feeling though, Katrina had better be ready to be stalked, because he wouldn’t let harm come to her again. the others were talking again and so he listened.


^^"He's right. Nothing about this is your fault. What we do, if we do something, it's because we care about you, and we don't want him to continue hurting others. Would you feel bad about calling the police if you knew someone was being assaulted?" He shook his head slightly. "

^^“But, it is getting late, I should make sure the others are getting to bed"You three should get to bed soon-ish as well."

He walked Kaz to the door, at the door he would let out a small “thanks.” and then shut and lock his door this time. He really didn’t want to leave Katrina on her own tonight. It was no offense to Kaz, if the man wanted in he could get in but it was a subtle hint that he didn’t care for the man just walking in before he could even say it was open. Oh well, he was on curfew duty and he had essentially just let them get away with whatever they wanted so that was a plus. He tossed three sleeping bags on the end of the bed.


“Katrina, You’ve gpt yourssself a deal, but if they haven’t gotten him by March, when I am eligible to join the x-men and have done so. Then you can’t argue with me when I ssset out to ssstop him..Until then Fausto and I will Keep you sssafe.” Koga blatantly committed IM to guard duty in spite of his claim of weakness.

“You guys are welcome to stay here tonight, just as I was saying earlier.” He said reaching out to offer IM a hand up. Wondering if he could possibly leave if he knew Katrina was staying the night with him? he certainly would have had to be blatantly asked to leave if the situation was reversed.


“ Have you guys Seen Tengen toppen gurren lagan?” He would have suggested Narauto but something about a love triangle with two guys and one girl didn’t appeal to him at the moment. But clearly they needed something crazy to watch to get rid of the tension. And Gurren lagan was that.

After helping Fausto up he would go sit at the far side of the bed, and if needed he'd encourage Fausto to sit where he was a minute ago. Flanking Katrina with black eyed males that were both more fond of her , then she knew what to do with..

>>>¨ Sorry, I could not. I failed once, i will fail again.

The look on Fausto's face was one of someone who was drowning in sadness. Katrina couldn't look at him when he said that, because she was the one who had drowned him. Kaz tried to give some advice, but it didn't seem like the kind that was likely to cheer him up. Katrina wasn't sure if anything would ever make him happy again when he looked like that.

Kaz then made his exit, leaving Koga with some wise words, too. It sounded like the same type of advice some old samurai would give to a young warrior just starting out. Either the elf eared hall monitor had been watching too many samurai movies lately, or Katrina had. The red eyed man left her with a kiss on the top of her head as a parting gift; no advice, though, which was probably good, since she wasn't trying to be any kind of warrior or anything like that. She was happy to just be a survivor.

Once their adult chaperone was gone, Koga took the liberty of promising both his own and Fausto's services to her gaurdship, effective starting now with three sleeping bags lined up side by side. Though, it still looked like Fausto was frozen like a statue of despair. Katrina couldn't blame him. She was still in a bit of a daze too, from the emotional catharsis she had gone through and the abrupt words that had pulled her out of it again. She gave half a nod to the words 'in March' without really thinking about what he was saying. And then Koga was speaking in German, or something like it.

“Tengen tengen gurren, what?” She repeated as best she could, completely confused. She blinked as things all around her slowly returned to normal. From dark illusory images to the promise of brightly colorful animation, and dark thoughts of murder and torture back to children preparing for a slumber party, the dark spell around them was slowly beginning to break. She reached for one of the sleeping bags and unrolled it and wrapped it around herself like a blanket of comfortable normality.

She glanced up at Fausto to see if he had returned to normal, too. Her eyes were sad and questioning with their plea for him to return to his normal self again, a plea for him to sit next to her and watch the movie, a plea for him to forgive her for what she had said.

Those eyes questioned him , they invited him to come while contradictory petrified him. A total denial of the facts would have been fantastic but the boy knew he could not alter reality at will, he would have to do as all as someone else do , but what should he do ? should he follow the advice of those eyes? . ¨ Forget everything. ¨ or ¨ Lets pretend that nothing happened. ¨ those eyes said , in that strange language of which only the eyes are capable but not least understandable or valid. Fausto had fallen into a deep well from which he did not know how to get out. For help he only had a small reptile that he preferred not to need anything from him or Katrina that now seemed to be as dangerous as it would be any distant relative of the reptilian boy , perhaps a poisonous cobra, menacing and able to inject neurotoxins. With or without neurotoxin his nervous system was already altered and not even relief when the intruder left the room, he was almost about to crack a smile as he left, almost. The intruder did not leave without remind him of his own pathetic existence. Erasing any possible growing smile.

Koga decided for him , maybe that was best. He should stop trying to do everything he want and let others decide if something went wrong was not his fault. It was pathetic but ... Would Fausto feel so bad if he knew he made a mistake because of someone else ? Probably yes. If his father would be there ... he would know what to do. He would know how to lift his mood in just seconds with one of his stupid jokes or anecdotes. Where can he buy a personal assistant to advise him in any circumstance?

His pride usually kept him floating above any imperfection in the field of life, so full of holes as Swiss cheese. But not as tasty. She demolished her armor of pride, and he could not help collapsing along with his armor. The pieces shattered were the reminder of the battle that had rocked the place as the backbone of big wrecks that always look sadly.
He was in love, he also was a masochist because he let the hand that was offered to help him get up, get him out of his hole to approached again to his murderer / victim because she was the two of them , she had hurt him but he had hurt her first by not being what she needed. He almost had sworn he would not feel the hand that helped him, but he did. And that feeling as simple surprised him , that hole was dark and cold that distorted the words that came to him like distant drums of war, he failed to hear the name but it was a movie. Would him be able to forget the whole thing watching a movie?
He sat on the sleeping bags, not so near, not so far from her. Fixing his eyes on the boy. And following his movements that were much more interesting than his feet.

Koga popped open a dvd case and inserting the first of many, into the dvd player. He let the previews go and tossed a bag of popcorn in the microwave and se a large bowl on top of the radioactive machine. He pulled open his sleeping bag and put it at a friendly distance away from Katrina, He was attempting to be the friend that she needed and was momentarily scolded over. Should he be thankful they were interrupted? would more have happened, would the kiss that turned into a hug turned into something more tender? or more awkward? He didn't know and wouldn't find out until she made a move on him.

Could have possibly been more awkward than this?

"Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann." He pronounced slowly and patiently. "it isss an anime, and I find it to be pretty funny. You'll sssee." The popcorn dinged and he opened the microwave and grabbed the popcorn and so far hadn't came up against anything he would have needed help with, and if he were alone he would have simply bit the bag with his teeth and pulled the other side, but this was meant for all of them and if Fausto wanted any he would have to scoot closer to Katrina....why did he want that again? Oh that's right because he cared about them both, and Fausto was as tore up about not being able to protect Kat as he was. so they all needed each other right now, and they needed anime. and popcorn.

He tossed the popcorn bag into the bowl and carried it over to Katy, "You mind opening that?" he wiggled his stump a little signifying why he couldn't do it."

The last preview was on and so he grabbed the remote and hit menu and then play. THe intro would be on and they could toss the popcorn bag and settle in. He opened the mini fridge that had mostly sports drinks in it.

"You guysss want anything? I have a couple of sssodasss and a lot of ssssportsss drinksss, there isss water too but it doesssn't make it to the mini fridge."